SPOT Personal Tracker

SPOT Personal Tracker Review

SPOT Personal Tracker Feature

• Satellite messenger with GPS tracking for keeping users safe on adventure trips.Purchasing a service plan is required in addition to purchasing the SPOT unit.
• SpotChecking feature alerts friends and family of your precise location
• SpotCasting function lets friends and family follow your progress in real time
• Sends GPS coordinates and distress message to Emergency Response Center
• Satellite technology works around the world; measures 2.75 x 4.38 x 1.5 inches (W x H x D)

Give your loved ones full peace of mind when you're on the mountain with the Spot Satellite Messenger. Whether you're just checking in, allowing others to track your progress, or calling for help, Spot gives you a vital line of communication with friends and family when you want it, and emergency assistance when and where you need it. Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message. Unlike personal locator beacons, however, Spot does more than just call for help. The SpotChecking feature, for example, lets you notify your SpotTeam--the friends and family you've chosen as your contacts--and tell them all is well, notify them of your location, or save waypoints so you can review your route at a later date. You can also activate the SpotCasting feature to let friends and family follow your progress in real time (every 10 minutes). Anyone with access to your account information can log on and view your route, complete with virtual views provided by Google Maps. SpotCasting is a terrific feature for mountain climbers looking to celebrate their accomplishments with their loved ones.

The most important feature, however, is Spot's ability to call 911 in the event of a life-threatening or other critical emergency. Once activated, Spot will acquire your exact coordinates from the GPS network, and then send that location along with a distress message to a GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled. The Emergency Response Center will then notify the appropriate emergency responders based on your location and personal information. Responders may include local police, the highway patrol, the Coast Guard, an embassy or consulate, or other emergency response and search-and-rescue teams. Even if Spot can't acquire its location from the GPS network, it will still attempt to send a distress signal--without your exact location--to the Emergency Response Center, which will still notify your emergency contacts of the signal and continue to monitor the network for further messages.

Spot works around the world, including in virtually all of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia, and portions of South America, Northern Africa, and Northeastern Asia. And provided you're in a good coverage area, Spot offers a 99 percent probability of sending a successful message within 20 minutes. As a result, Spot is ideal for anyone with a taste for outdoor adventures, including boaters, kayakers, sailboarders, archaeologists, skiers, climbers, pilots, business travelers, snowshoers, and just about anyone else.

Spot requires two AA lithium batteries, with a battery life of up to one year in standby mode, 14 days in SpotCasting mode, or 7 days in 911 mode. And thanks to the water-resistant housing (safe in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes), you needn't worry about using Spot in adverse conditions. Spot measures a compact 2.75 by 4.38 by 1.5 inches (W x H x D), weighs 7.37 ounces, and carries a one-year limited warranty.

Communication Functions:

Spot employs a GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, then sends its location to the recipient of your choice, complete with a link to Google Maps and a pre-programmed message.

• Alert 9-1-1 dispatches emergency responders to an exact location
• Ask for Help sends a request for help to friends and family with your location
• Check In lets contacts know where you are and that you are okay
• Track Progress sends and saves your location and allows others to track your progress using Google Maps

Battery Life:

• Power ON, unused: Approximately 1 year
• SPOT casting continuous tracking mode: Approximately 14 days
• 9-1-1 mode: Up to 7 consecutive days
• HELP mode: up to 1900 messages
• SPOT check OK up to 1900 messages

Specifications:

• Weight: 7 ounces
• Waterproof to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes
• Operating Temperature: -40ºF to +185ºF
• Operating Altitude: -300 feet to +21,300 feet
• Humidity and Salt Fog Rated

The SPOT Satellite Messenger, the world's first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customer's location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT is a revolutionary product that is designed to raise the safety factor for hundreds of millions of people around the world.